E. Hampton Board Offers Center School For Police Station Site

February 17, 2014|By ERIK HESSELBERG, Special to The Courant, The Hartford Courant

EAST HAMPTON – The town council is weighing a surprise offer by the board of education to renovate the old Center School in the village center into a new police station and town hall.

The proposal was presented to the council last week by school board Chairman Ken Barber, who urged the council to hold off purchasing another property for a new police headquarters and consider Center School instead.

The council has scheduled a special meeting to discuss the board's proposal Thursday at 6 p.m. in the high school auditorium.

The offer comes as the town council continues to discuss a land purchase many believe is linked to a new police station. The council is also reviewing a preliminary budget for the 2014 fiscal year that shows a $6 million capital expense for a police station.

Two previous councils were eyeing a former bell factory on Skinner Road for a police station, but a deal was never reached.

Speaking before the council meeting last week, Barber said Center School is the best option because it could house not only a police station but all town services.

The school board "strongly urges the town to consider Center School as a resolution to the town's need for space," Barber said in a prepared statement.

Barber cited a 2005 study which concluded that Center School would be a "viable option" for a new municipal complex, and recommended that a building committee be formed to discuss the proposal. Superintendent Diane Dugas also expressed support.

Center School, which was built in 1912 and expanded in later years, now houses fifth- and sixth-graders, about 300 students in all. Barber said relocating students would take two to three years, and that state funds could be leveraged for such a move.

In addition to town offices and the police department, the new facility would include offices for the board of education, parks and recreation and social services; the two latter agencies now rent space at a town hall annex away from the downtown, which costs $40,000 a year, Barber said. "In terms of revitalizing the village center, this could do a lot for that," Barber said after the meeting.

The present 2,500-square-foot police station, in the basement of town hall, has long been considered inadequate, but calls for a new facility have become more urgent with Northeast Utilities announcement that it will consolidate several field offices in a vacant CL&P building behind town hall. The police department now leases a parking lot for CL&P, which it will be forced to give up.